Thought(s) For the Week

PASSAGE OF THE WEEK:

Focus on your own journey. Leave everyone else to their own. Unless, of course you have a helpful suggestion or recommendation–just as others have given you. In which case, be a good fan and provide it!

— Have You Considered This? (Listen)

YOUTUBE TAKEAWAY OF THE WEEK:

In one of the most-watched videos on the Daily Stoic YouTube Channel this week, Ryan Holiday talks about the best Stoic strategies for dealing with loneliness. Loneliness is a timeless experience. Stoicism is founded in a moment of loneliness—Zeno loses everything in a shipwreck. Seneca’s best writings come from exile—when he is sent far away from the people he loves. Marcus Aurelius was the most powerful man in the world—by the very nature of his power and responsibility and fame, he was isolated he was lonely. The Stoics were very familiar with loneliness and have a lot of great strategies for dealing with it. Despite the fact that, as Ryan says,

“You might think that the Stoics were these unfeeling people…But that’s actually not true at all…Marcus Aurelius said that he learned from one of his mentors to be free of passions but full of love. If you want to feel good, if you want to be loved by other people, it’s about what you put out in the world…Because ultimately that’s what you control. If you want to feel better, don’t go expecting other people to validate you or to give you what you want. Give what you want. Marcus says if you want to feel good, do good. See everyone you meet, as Seneca said, as an opportunity to practice kindness. And the rest will take care of itself.”

Watch the full video: How Stoics Deal With Loneliness

PODCAST TAKEAWAY OF THE WEEK:

In a recent episode of the Daily Stoic podcast, Ryan Holiday speaks with Sam Harris about the common threads between eastern and western philosophy, psychedelics and the problem with peak experiences, how Sam has been able to avoid being captured by his audience, and the function of worry:

“With mindfulness, you’re not doing anything but noticing what is happening. Everything—thoughts, sensations—arises by itself. And it’s in that recognition that you see that the problem you thought you needed to solve a moment ago isn’t even there. The problem of your anxiety or of disappointment—these are thought-based delusions. That’s not to say that there aren’t challenging experiences. Things like physical pain don’t magically go away once you learn how to meditate. But so much of our suffering in response to something like physical pain is because of our psychological contraction around it and our anxiety about it and our fear that it won’t go away and our fear of what it means.

Listen to the full episode: Sam Harris on Stoicism and Mindfulness Practice

WHAT RYAN HOLIDAY IS READING:

“And then…it wasn’t just that we lost all those jobs, it was that people didn’t have anything to be good at anymore. There’s only so good you can be about pushing a mop or emptying a bedpan. We’re trending backwards as a nation, probably for the first time in history, and it’s not the kids with the green hair and bones through their noses. Personally I don’t care for it, but those things are inevitable. The real problem is the average citizen does not have a job he can be good at. You lose that, you lose the country.”

— American Rust: A Novel by Philipp Meyer

YOUR STOIC WEEKEND REMINDER:

Is this essential?

That’s the question Marcus Aurelius said we need to ask ourselves constantly.

“Most of what we say and do is not essential,” he writes. “If you can eliminate it, you’ll have more time, and more tranquility. Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary?’”

All the things you do and say and think—ask yourself, “Is this necessary?” “Is this essential?” “Why am I doing this?” “What would happen if I changed?”

These are the questions to ask yourself, every day, every moment.

(For more on this idea, watch this video!)

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